I can give an example of something I saw to explain why other countries, might hate us. I was coming back from the city, it was late so I was taking a cab. Some fellow drunkards start giving the cabby, in front of us some guff. Calling him an Iraqi, and asking him how it feels to have his country taken over. I can not remember exactly what he said- but I do remember wanting to kick him in the face. A very small spectrum example, but it is answer to the post's question none the less.

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"the day i went insane, was when i truly believed life wasn't a game."

Ah yes, the old "they're only picking on you because they're jealous" platitude.

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"God created man from a handful of dust, and he created woman from that man's rib. And these two together were so stupid that they weren't on the planet five minutes when they managed to get a curse put on all future generations. Nice work." Pat Condell

"God created man from a handful of dust, and he created woman from that man's rib. And these two together were so stupid that they weren't on the planet five minutes when they managed to get a curse put on all future generations. Nice work." Pat Condell

well the main reason a lot of countries hate us is because the US tries to be the police of the world. also now that bush is in office and completely ******* up, even MORE of the world hates us. i can honestly say america is definetely the worldwide aggresor because we put our military bases in other countries (and our govt probably threatens other countries with invasion or something if they dont let us put bases there), so besides the fact that our government is completely messed up and that america is sort of a worldwide bully and now invading the middle eastern countries for oil. i dont really see any other reason for them to hate us *rollseyes*.

There is a perception of America as being hypocritical. From the US politicians we hear talk about democracy and peace, but the reality seems to be that America is among the most violent and aggressive countries on the planet.

It's just too hard to take what we hear from GWB at face value; so easy to believe that America's actions in the Middle East are driven by the need to have as much control as possible over major oil supplies.

How do we accept the fact that Israel and Egypt are the 2 biggest recipients of US Aid dollars? So easy to believe that the US is simply buying a foothold in the Middle East so the Islamic countries don't get total control over the region.

Then there's the gun thing, the right to bear arms, the fact that more Americans die from gunshot per capita (murder, accident, suicide) than any other country on the planet. A society which accepts this level of violence.

Plus there are many around the world who despise the globalisation of MacDonalds and similar corporations that detract from local culture.

And did you know, if the whole world consumed at the same rate as the US, it would take 3 planet Earths to sustain us?

Another perception is that many Americans are largely ignorant about world events and simply believe what their politicians tell them.

And finally, America is seen as being an extremely Christian country (teaching Creationism for example), and many regard this, in conjunction with the militaristic foreign policy, as being a very dangerous combination.

Not saying these things to offend anyone, and sorry if you are, just answering the question.

"And finally, America is seen as being an extremely Christian country (teaching Creationism for example), and many regard this, in conjunction with the militaristic foreign policy, as being a very dangerous combination." --Bluie

As opposed to the Middle East being seen as an extremely Islamic region (teaching Jihadism to bring about the Third Caliphate for example), and many regard this, in conjunction with the use of terror tactics as official policy, as being a very dangerous combination?

Here's the rub, Bluie: How many countries (barring Middle Eastern ones fomenting terrorism) are in danger of being invaded by the United States in the foreseeable future as opposed to how many countries are in danger of being bombed for no discernable reason (outside of purely arbitrary political-religious excuses such as mandatory burkhas for women) by people who worship Allah?

A reasonable person will answer that the United States could possibly invade one country (North Korea), but Islamacists will likely bomb any country they possibly can while doing maximum damage.

Do you see the difference? While threads like this are an easy way to stir up controversy and discussion, a more insidious mindset lies underneath-- that the United States in all her gaudy, sometimes crass, and envy inspiring glory is a worse danger than the one which faces every country, Islamic and non-Islamic alike: radical Muslims. Along side that assumption is the wishful thinking that if we were to just leave them alone that these same radical Muslims would be content to keep to themselves and not bother anyone.

It is this sophomoric logic which places us where we are today: A dissatisfied public and disapproving world opinion. Regardless our alliance with Israel, or if we could somehow never use another drop of oil ever again, never steam our warships in the Persian Gulf, it would not be sufficient to placate Muslim extremists. So, a more realistic world view is in order. We support Israel, we take a proactive stance in world politics, we attack countries which are aggressive or are home and safehaven to terrorists.

Does this mean we make these choices willy-nilly? No, we push Israel to live peacefully with Palestine, we build up relationships with countries actively fighting terrorism, and we make concessions with and give aid to countries willing to forsake radical Islam.

As opposed to the Middle East being seen as an extremely Islamic region (teaching Jihadism to bring about the Third Caliphate for example), and many regard this, in conjunction with the use of terror tactics as official policy, as being a very dangerous combination?

also we are on THEIR turf so as long as we are where we dont belong, im cheering for the "iraqi insurgents" and i guess there needs to be more american death in iraq unfortunately. yes america IS the aggresor in the middle east because america wants to force christianity on the islamic world and wants to suck all the oil it can out of iraq. YES i have sympathy for the iraqis fighting american forces, because they are doing the right thing by fighting back against american forces, defending their homeland and taking out the oil-driven american force in iraq. I think we need to be showed just how welcome we really are in a country we dont belong in. Those iraqis are just defending their culture and country from the invading christian american forces and rightfully so. It makes me feel pretty good when i hear about an american humvee being overturned, american helicopter crashing or american soldiers dying because that just means america is one more step closer to learning its lesson, and that lesson being that american govt should NOT be staying as long as they have and they need to stop looking at themselves as the police of the world.

I guess the US is also fighting against a perception that it is very good at *War* and very bad at *Peace*. The prison abuse in Iraq sure doesn't help that that image.

Saddam had to go and we shuddered to see the pictures of his torture chambers, but now the US has tainted itself with the same brush, thereby adding fuel to the fires of hatred.

Not good PR and will be very hard to live down.

And I have to say, do I really believe the US pushes Israel to live peacefully with Palestine? No way!! Israel is roundly condemned by many countries for whatever its latest actions are, for example the assassinations, and the US says the bare minimum it can get away with. The US totally supports Israel in all its actions behind the scenes and only makes public politically correct statements when it has no other option.

Anyway I guess GWB will lose the next election, will be interesting to see if anything changes after that.

Aussie government is also up for election at the end of this year, and also looks like a change of govt, with the Opposition promising to pull out our troops if they are elected. Bunch of idiots!!

That just means you haven't learned to discriminate between what are serious posts and what is noise. Plainly speaking, that previous post was a serious one and stands on its' own merits-- particularly since there are no real alternative solutions out there with an immediate impact.

However, I am all ears if you have a workable solution to a worldwide crisis, but just remember, our support for Israel has had bi-party support from every administration since that country's inception. Bush, to his credit, has made greater strides towards actual concrete steps for a duality in that region for a Palestinian state and a cooperative Israel rather than just platitudes and general talk about peace than any previous president. And if you can invent a realistic answer to the world's energy needs, I'll listen to that too-- just don't throw "we need to cut down consumption and live on sunshine" type nonsense at me. Because that's just bullsh1t designed to be a non-answer.

So please, give me what you think is a viable solution to today's problems. I'm waiting...